Times of Our Lives
by CielosDeNoche
Summary: When Derek Souza Bae is left heartbroken after a break-up with one of Tori's best friends, will he ever learn to love a person ever again? Will there even be another girl in his life to love or will it be impossible?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Times of Our Lives

**Another Chance**

_October 21, 2011. Day 10. _

_ Sitting down in the booth, looking around, I see leaves falling from tree roots, falling down to the ground. Like their life ended after a couple of months. Ironically, it reminded me of my life with _her._ I never really thought I could fall in love with someone till Tori introduced us. Love for me, was something I thought I was never going to experience in my life. Emily Barnes changed my view of love. I thought it was love, for sure. Even my father, Kit, thought that she was the one I was looking for all of my lonely years. It was a lie. _She _was a lie. She cared about no one except for herself and her secret boyfriend she was hiding from me. I should have followed my gut. My gut was always right, which is why I always listen to it now._

_ There was no way I was going to fall in love again. _

_ Ever. _

* * *

><p>The sound of the waitress setting the coffee mug on my table brought me out of my writing mood. I quietly said a 'thank you' and she left, attending another customer. The rich smell of the coffee filled my senses, making me realize just how much of a caffeine addict I had become.<p>

After the whole breaking-up thing with Emily, I got the hang of always coming to the small diner not too far from my apartment. Its red colored booth and light blue colored table were already claimed as mine. No one sat in the far corner of the diner, except for me. Lauren, a middle-aged woman, always knew my order the moment I walked through the doors. The regular black coffee, sometimes with a croissant.

Looking down at the leather bounded journal I had written in not too long ago, made me think what had made me accept it from my brother, Simon Bae. My mind searched for an answer, but it came out blank. Continuing to sip my coffee, I looked out the window again, remembering just how messed up my life had become ever since I found out Emily was cheating on me. I was never really expecting a surprise like this in my life. _Maybe because love is a blindness. _

Emily though, she was beaten pretty badly from my sister, Tori, clawing at her with her long nails. She was pissed at her once best friend, the moment she saw Emily, which was at the mall, Tori immediately jumped on her and began hitting and clawing. Sort of like how lions fight to get the female, only Emily didn't and couldn't fight back. No one is able to fight against Tori's wrath. My father, Simon, and myself all were able to see the security video taken as Tori hit Emily. Let me just say, Tori and I weren't really fond of each other, but now, we're like the brother and sister our father always wanted us to be.

After the whole mall fight, Emily was told that she could put charges on Tori for attacking her, but she didn't want to. All charges were dropped and Tori was released from jail the very same day of the fight. Tori did the unthinkable too, she hugged me and kept telling me how sorry she was for ever setting Emily and I together. Like the good person I am, I told her it was alright.

A small smile appeared on my face, remembering how much we used to disagree on everything and that all changed just a month ago.

The sound of a ding, made it a sign that someone had entered the diner. I didn't bother looking over, thinking it was just another business person coming for some coffee. Glancing down at my watch, I noticed that it was just nine-thirty.

My eyebrows lifted to my hairline, I always left the dinner at nine o'clock. Shrugging indifferently, I continued to sip my now cold coffee.

The sound of Lauren's voice rang out, "Chloe! You are late!"

"Sorry, Aunt Lauren. I woke up late," the voice sounded like wind chimes to my ears. It was a pleasant sound, making me whip my head towards the counter.

There, stood a girl who looked to be about five-feet with strawberry hair to her waist. She was wearing a white dress shirt with light blue jeans, ending with black tennis shoes. The waitress, Lauren, was standing with her back to the front door, looking sternly at the girl who I quickly assumed was her niece from her previous sentence.

I felt my eyes widen as the girl turned around. Baby blue eyes glistened against the strong rays coming through the dinner windows. Her skin was pale, with pink rosy cheeks. No trace of make-up where present on her face. She was talking frantically, making hand motions every once in a while. Lauren would just shake her head and look down at the ground.

Finally, Lauren held up her hands in surrender and patted the girl's shoulder. They both nodded and smiled at each other, then they both walked away from my sight.

While leaning against the booth chair, I couldn't make the image of the beautiful girl who I got to see minutes ago.

I then heard her voice, "Would you like some more coffee?"

Something inside me starts to stir, like the same thing that happened when I first met Emily. Quickly looking at my empty cup, I responded with a, "Yes, please."

Glancing up at the girl beside me, I noticed that her hair had been pulled into a ponytail. The make-up free face made her seem like an Angel. Her illuminating blue eyes were focused on the coffee mug, lips pressed tightly together.

"There you go," she said.

"Thank you," my hands immediately seek out the cup, body interested on drinking more caffeine.

"Would you like anything else?"

My grip on the cup tightened before I replied, "No, thank you."

She nods and shifting awkwardly on her feet, she moves on to the next tables. Something about her movement made me think that she wanted to say something else, but was either too shy or didn't want to bother me.

_ See it on my face I'm getting over you, ohh. I'm getting over you, ohh. _The sound of my ring tone made me jump, something I never do. Glancing down at the screen, I answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Derek? Where the hell are you?" Tori asked. Confusion quickly took over my mind.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Wha- I thought Simon told you," she replied.

"I haven't talked to Simon since two weeks ago," I heard a snarl come from Tori. Chuckling, I ran my fingers through my hair. Feeling someone's eyes on me, I turned to look over at the counter. The girl was looking over at me, a small blush appearing on her cheeks. She quickly looked away and continued to clean the counter with a rag.

"Derekkkkkkk!" I looked away from her then.

"What?" I asked.

"Did you not hear what I just said?" Tori asked, the sound of whooshing air coming from her side of the line.

"Well, if I recall you said, "_Derekkkkkk!_" Am I right?"

"Ugh, noooo. Never mind, it's clear you weren't listening. Anyways, I was just going t-" Tori's voice had broken off. Picking my cup from the table, I listened in.

"_SIMON, you IDIOT! You didn't tell Derek did you?_" I heard her ask.

Simon's frantic and panicked voice sounded, "_Yes I did!_"

"_He said he doesn't know anything! You both haven't talked to each other for two weeks!_"

"_Ohhh... yeah, about that... I forgot to tell him_," laughing quietly at my brother's stupidity, made me almost choke on my coffee.

"Lousy kid. Why are we related to him?" Tori asked.

"I think that's a question you should be asking to Dad, not me."

"Yeah, well he always replies with "_He was a miracle_" a miracle, my face."

"Interesting. So what was it that you needed from me?" I asked, suddenly curious again.

I heard her sigh, "Just come over to my apartment, Simon will come back eventually."

Quickly saying an okay, and talking about some random things back and forth we finally hung up. Chugging down the rest of the coffee, I pulled out my wallet and left a tip. Catching a glimpse of the girl cleaning some tables not too far away, I pulled out another dollar and got up to leave. Nodding a thanks to Lauren, I headed for door of the dinner. I stepped out onto the sidewalk and looked back. The girl stood, looking at me, with a small smile on her face. I lifted my hand and waved a goodbye, she in return, raised her hand and waved goodbye back.

With a smile on my face, I walked towards my car. A feeling taking over my whole body.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I haven't updated for any of my stories at all, so to anyone that reads my stories, so sorry I haven't updated for such a long time. They sort of just don't connect with me anymore. **

**SO, I had this story in my head for a long time and finally had the chance to type it out. I've always wanted to try out writing in Derek's point of view. Even though he is not antisocial in this story, I will somehow keep him the same as Kelley's character. **

**If this story has any chance of updating, tell me in reviews. I accept flames also. Just tell me if you want me to continue or not, I have great ideas for this story. **

**Thanks for reading, **

**~ CielosDeNoche **


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Times of Our Lives

**Coming Back Home Soon**

"If Dad blames this on us, we're so gonna get you back," Simon said, looking around at the room we were all standing in. I cringed, looking at the adorned room and might I say, house. Everywhere around the house, there were fliers that read 'Happy Birthday!,' balloons, and pretty much anything else you would see at a party. Except, Tori decided to go a little overboard with the decorations.

"I agree with him," I said gruffly. Kit Bae aka our father, had been gone for at least two months in Spain for his job. None of us questioned him when he told us this, only to have a nice and safe trip. Since we were little, our father would work and work to try not to get depressed over our mother's death. We all took her death pretty hard, but nothing compared to his. Even at the age of forty-one, going on forty-two, I have seen the look of sadness in his eyes every time Tori did something that reminded him of her.

Being the oldest of the family at twenty-three years old, I was always looking out for Tori and Simon. Both being fraternal twins, they were just two years younger then me. Once, Kit didn't trust me enough to take care of them when we were all going to high school. He wanted to hire servants, but I quickly changed his mind, saying we needed to learn how to grow up on our own with responsibility, not with servants leading our lives.

"Yeah, well. I wanted to make Dad feel welcomed back home!" Tori exclaimed, heading over to a table. Simon and myself looked at each other and shook our heads. Rolling my eyes, I walked behind Tori which then she made me fix the decorations Simon didn't do right. Narrowing my eyes at him, I grunted and started to remodel every part that Simon was in charge of doing.

"Wow, you really did a fantastic job Derek!" With a slap on my back from Simon, I moved out of his reach before he could do it again. His blue eyes widened a little, like a whipped puppy. Something I knew he got from me. Snorting, I turned to look at Tori who was still going crazy over the decorations.

Tori turned around, making a disgusted face towards Simon then said, "There, that should do it."

Simon snorted, "After what? Two to three hours? Geez, women these days."

"Ha! At least I don't try to make faces of a whipped puppy, which by the way, no one can master except for Derek and me," Tori skipped past us, heading for the kitchen.

"It only works with you, because you're Dad's only little girl!" Simon yelled after her.

Tori poked her head out from the kitchen window, "Exactly, and Derek's his favorite _son_."

"Hey! That's not-" I cut Simon off.

"Do not involve me in your argument, please. Look, I gotta go and look for Dad's gift," I heard a gasp from my sister. Sighing and cursing myself for saying it out loud, I quickly scrambled towards the front door where my car was waiting for me.

Before I could fully shut the door, away from Tori's fury, I heard, "Get him something better then Simon!" After that I heard muffled shouting.

**x-x-x-x**

Who knew looking for a simple gift would be so hard? I certainly didn't. Sure something would jump out at my to be the perfect gift, but in the end I always changed my mind. I considered getting my dad a shirt, but decided against it. He had too much shirts, that he still hasn't worn yet. Shoes were out of question, firstly because he had his sense of shoe style like everyone does. Maybe he won't like the colors on the shoes or he won't feel comfortable in them.

I could always buy him another coffee mug, but he won't be using it as much like the one Tori gave him for his last birthday. It said '_#1 Dad_' which made me change my mind, again.

Running my hands through my black hair, I tightened my jaw and looked around the store trying to figure something out. After minutes of meandering around, an idea popped out from looking at a young teenage girl carrying something I knew my father would love. It was his favorite thing to do.

Glancing down at my watch, I fast walked towards the end part of the store. With weighing options of: color, size, style, and brand. After minutes of debating between three, I managed to pick one out of all of them.

With a smile on my face, I walked over to the cash registers. I knew my dad would be surprised.

**x-x-x-x**

"Either color blue or green," moving my eyes between the bags in both of my hands, I couldn't choose. I had called Tori, asking for advice on the colors, which made me get stuck on them... again for the third time today. "Just pick one Derek, I'm sure it whatever you pick will be as bad as Simon's." Tori whispered from the other line.

Rolling my eyes, I picked out two other bags. "Fine, I'll call you when I'm close to Dad's house." Hanging up, I sighed again.

After a moment, I heard footsteps coming close to where I was. Picking out the blue colored birthday bag that I was sure was big enough for Dad's present, I randomly picked up the green and white paper wrappers. Turning to walk, my feet immediately stopped where they were.

Those baby blue eyes that I had seen at the diner this morning were close to me, something I didn't anticipate as much until now. She was wearing different clothes. Specifically a dress, heels, and a light jacket. Her once make-up free angel face, was now hidden from the amount of foundation, mascara, and eyeshadow. This wasn't the girl who I remembered, she was someone else. She wasn't herself.

Her once pink lips, now red, said: "Hi, I didn't see you there." I didn't answer, just tightened my jaw and looked at her, really looked. Her ponytail wasn't in place, instead her hair was curled down her back. She shifted awkwardly on her feet, something I figured she did often.

Shifting the things I was holding in my hands, I looked down at my feet for a millisecond then looked back up at her. "Yeah, me either. Nice seeing you again." I quickly walked around her, making her blond hair swish from the air that was made as I passed. Before I could fully walk out of her sight, I glanced back and saw that her shoulders were now hunched and she was looking down at the floor.

Paying for the supplies, I loaded everything in the car. Afterwords I got inside, my head spinning between the images of the girl I saw this morning in the diner and the one I had bumped into not too long ago. The one with the make-up and curly hair wasn't someone I wanted.

_Who are you to judge her? She can be anyone she wants to, it's not your choice. _

__**x-x-x-x**

With fingers tapping the beat of _Another One Bites the Dust _by Queen on the steering wheel, I parked in front of my apartment building. Grabbing everything from the trunk, I headed towards apartment _275_. Turning the lock open, I stepped into my small apartment I have had for a year already. Pictures of my family were hung on the walls, even some pictures of my mom.

Laying the present on my coffee table, I went in search of scotch tape and a pen. Rummaging through my drawers, I managed to find the tape and a picture. It was a picture of all of us. As in, my parents and us three kids. My dad kissing my mom's cheek, her smiling widely at the camera. Simon showing off his toothless smile and Tori smiling cutely towards the camera like Mom. As for me, I was smiling, and shooting the camera a thumbs-up. Chuckling to myself, I walked towards the living room, tape and picture held firmly in my hand.

Wrapping the present turned out to be rather difficult, considering that it was huge and a little heavy. I carefully placed it in the bag that read '_Happy Birthday, Dad_' something I thought wouldn't exist. I grabbed the pen and started to write inside the card I had gotten for him. I had about an hour to finish and get ready for the party.

Minutes passed and passed as I wrote, finally I was done. I laid the pen down and added the picture inside the card, taking a mental shot of our family portrait that I knew my father would never forget.

Running inside my room, I headed for the bathroom. After my quick five minute shower, I put on some jeans with my boots, and a light blue dress shirt, with a leather jacket over it. Checking that I had everything done and ready to go, I locked the front door of my apartment and walked to where my car was parked. Opening the driver's door, I put the present at an angle on the passenger's side that I knew it wouldn't fall. Starting the engine, I headed towards the place where the party was going to be at.

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><p><strong>AN: I'm curious to know what everyone thinks what Kit's birthday present will be from Derek? Tell me in reviews! :) **

**Thanks to everyone that's read this story and reviewed and along with the other things. I was just so happy I got eight reviews that I decided to post this chapter before I could be busy with school again on Tuesday. **

**Merci Beaucoup! (thank you so much!) **

**~ CielosDeNoche **


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Times of Our Lives

**Memories We Won't Ever Forget **

Arriving at the house, I was greeted with a hug from Tori, and a quiet whispered conversation about the gift I had got for our Dad. Handing the gift over to her, I took off my leather jacket and hooked it on the coat hanger. Tori went to set the gift where her's and Simon's were already waiting to be opened.

Walking into the living room, I spotted my father talking with Simon. They were both sitting on the couch, drinking what seemed to be soda. From behind, my father looked the same, but when he turned around, there was a difference. He seemed to have gotten older, even though it had been two months since we haven't seen each other.

The dark bags that were once not so visible, were now there. Still, I smiled and walked over to him, his arms opening widely to give me a hug. I never usually gave anyone hugs, but this was my father and I would do anything. Sometime during the hug, Kit must have started crying because his breathing had gotten shallow and was clutching me tighter to him. In response, I tightened my hold on him. Closing my eyes, I wished my mom were here to see this. She would have been proud.

Tori came into my view, tears streaming down her face. She walked forward and wrapped her slender arms as best she could around us. Other arms joined in. Simon.

I felt hot, wet tears stain my shirt, but I didn't care, this is what we all needed. A family hug to fill in our gap that we hadn't seen Kit for so long. He started to murmur things to all three of us. About how proud he was to have such smart and beautiful adults as his kids. How he was the luckiest man in the world. Tori was a complete mess, her sobs had gotten louder, making the rest of us chuckle through our tears.

"Your mother would have been proud of all of you. I know she would have," we all replied with small nods of our heads. We all knew she would have been.

After cleaning ourselves up, especially Tori who was smart enough not to put waterproof make-up on, we all headed towards the dinner table. We all piled our dishes with food Tori had made herself. Kit seemed to freeze a moment when she mentioned that she had made it all by herself. With me staring at him, I had seen tears threatening to fall, but he fought them back. Simon and I looked at each other with a knowing look. He was remembering how when Tori used to be little, she would always try to help Mom around the kitchen when she was preparing dinner.

Now with Tori at the age of twenty-one, I realized what my dad had been thinking about. His baby girl was growing up, fast. She had learned to cook from watching our mom and from watching Food Network.

Shaking his head, he said, "That's my girl." Making Tori blush a little.

**x-x-x-x**

Having mild conversations, and laughing every once in awhile, from Simon's jokes or from Tori's comebacks at him, I knew this is something we would never forget. Lifting my fork to eat the slice of chicken, I looked at my family. Simon was laughing hysterically, trying not to choke. Tori was glaring back at him, with her arms crossed. My dad was trying hard not to laugh, but a small sound came out. Tori whipped her head towards Dad, and glared at him as well.

Shaking my head, I continued to eat. All three of them still either glaring or laughing at each other.

"So Derek, how's school coming along?" Dad asked, looking at me.

Swallowing, I said, " Pretty good. I've been getting praised by all my teachers about how well my grades are and all that." From the corner of my eye, I saw Simon and Tori roll their eyes. So I joked, "What? Are you guys jealous?" Throwing in my signature smirk at the end.

"Pfft... me? No, but I think Simon is," Tori gestured towards Simon, who was glaring back at her.

"I am not," he said, poking at his food. Dad looked up at me, raising an eyebrow. I just lifted my shoulders a little, trying to be discrete.

"Simon, there's nothing to be jealous about. Trust me, if I were in your place, I'd be jealous of myself too," I told him honestly. He looked up at me, eyes searching for the truth.

"Really?" He breathed out.

I gave him a brotherly smile, "Of course I would have. Look, whatever is bothering you, don't let it bring you down. Not everyone is the same."

"Wise words, from the oh, so wise Derek Bae," Tori said, sending a wink at my direction. I rolled my eyes at her, and managed to see the smile Dad had on his face.

**x-x-x-x**

"Dad gets to open mine first!" Tori shouted, as she grabbed the gifts and set them on the coffee table, close to where Kit was sitting on the couch. He chuckled and began to open his gift.

"Wow," was all he said, as he opened it. It was a huge collage of pictures from when we were all little to now. No wonder she had taken a picture of us all three just weeks ago. The collage started off with pictures when Mom had me, then Tori and Simon. The small bundle held perfectly in Mom's arms, with my Dad beside her in both pictures, smiling proudly at the camera. A picture of our first steps, first day of school, first birthday, and so on. At the end, Kit had tears streaming down his face as he took all the pictures in. His fingers tracing the pictures.

Quietly, he stood up and gave Tori a hug, thanking her. A flash of light went on as Simon took a picture of them.

Simon's present was next. He had gotten him the CD collection of his favorite band ever, U2. It contained all the CD's ever released by them as well as unknown songs. Basically, Kit was so shocked of finally having all their CD's he couldn't even talk. His eyes skimmed all the songs listed on the back of the package, smiling every once in a while as his favorite songs were on the back.

"Thank you, son. This means so much," he told Simon, giving him a hug as well. After that, Dad walked over to the CD player. Carefully unwrapping the pack, he put in a CD and pressed play. The first song that played was his first favorite song by U2, it was "Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of." Kit seemed to be mesmerized as the song played, maybe remembering the time when he had first heard it.

Sitting back down on the couch, he went ahead and opened mine. The small gasp that escaped between his lips made me mentally give myself a pat on the back. This is the exact response I had wished to have caused.

Tori and Simon whipped their heads back and forth, looking at the gift and at me. Their gazes clouded with awe. Stuffing my hands in my pocket jeans, I waited.

While twisting the tennis racket in his hands, Kit said, "It's been so long since I've last played tennis."

"Way too long," added Tori. Simon nodded in agreement, looking closely at the racket.

Kit's eyes scanned every inch of the racket, taking in his favorite color – red – that swirled together with the white design going around the racket head. The bright red 'W' in the middle on the strings stood out, to let him know it was a Wilson.

"You got the grip right," he said, raising his eyebrow at me.

I could feel my cheeks heat up, "Yeah I somehow remembered which grip would fit your hand."

Kit smiled and stood up, walking towards me. "I love it, Derek. It means a lot." Pulling me into a hug, I looked over his shoulder to see Simon and Tori both giving me a thumbs-up.

**x-x-x-x**

"I'm going to go all Nadal on your ass Simon," Tori said while she examined her nails. After we all ate the cake, Kit retired to his room to "sleep." We knew he went up early to let his feelings out of the way for the day.

With Simon sitting on the couch seat next to me and Tori across from us, we somehow got to the topic of who could beat each other at tennis.

"Ha! He's not number one in the world anymore, Djokovic is," Simon replied looking bored as he switched between channels on the tv. "So that means, I'll go all Djokovic on your ass."

Before Tori could snap back at him, her cellphone started to ring. "Jesus, who calls this late?" Simon covered his ears.

"People," I replied. His eyes narrowed at me, then focused his attention back to the tv.

"-saw him today? No way, where?"

"Wow, that was real smooth."

"- look no offense or anything, but you suck at this."

Listening in on the conversation Tori was having made me block her out. It was probably her friend having guy problems again. What was her name again, Rye? Rachel?

The murmuring sound of voices coming from the tv, made my eyelids start to feel heavy. Plus the warm temperature that was filling the living room made them cover my eyes completely dimming out the rest of the world.

My dreams filled with a certain blue eyed Angel.

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><p><strong>AN: Well, there's chapter three. Hope you all liked it, sorry if there's any mistakes. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. I find the guessing you guys did on Kit's present from Derek pretty awesome. :) **

**I know this doesn't have any Chlerek at all, but I want to slowly develop on their relationship later on. Promise. **

**BTW, did anyone see The Hunger Games? I freakin' loved every second of the movie! :') **

**Note: Next chapter may come before Wednesday. **

**Thanks for reading & reviewing. **

**~ CielosDeNoche**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Times of Our Lives

**Voices Carry **

"My friend is such an idiot," Tori murmured while picking at her breakfast. All three of us decided to give our Dad some personal space and ended up coming over to the diner.

"Why?" Simon asked through a mouthful of eggs. She grimaced at him and shrugged nonchalantly. He muttered under his breath then continued to stuffing his mouth with breakfast.

"She's been asking me for advice on how to get a guy to notice her, but apparently everything I've told her to do doesn't seem to be working for the him," she replied. "Maybe she's doing it wrong or he's just different then others."

The conversation ended there. Tori started to eat her meal, Simon still stuffing his face, and me quietly thinking about what I would do for the day. But something from the things that Tori had said made something in me to freeze. I didn't know why, so I ignored it.

**x-x-x-x**

"Okay, ew. No take that off and try this on," Tori handed Simon a shirt through the changing room door and closed it. We had all wanted to spend some quality time with each other, but this wasn't something Simon and myself had in mind. Luckily, Tori had chosen Simon as her Barbie Ken, so I didn't have to be the embarrassed one today.

Tori huffed and walked over to take the seat next to me on the bench. Wrapping my arm around her shoulders I said, "Don't give Simon a hard time over clothes T."

She let out a breath and laid her head on my shoulder. "I know, but he's my brother. It's my job to make his life a living hell."

"I'm your brother too, why don't you make my life a living hell?" I asked her, suddenly curious. Not that I'm jealous or anything, I loved the way my life was without her causing anything.

"Cause after everything that's happened... I don't want to make you anymore miserable," she whispered. I was going to ask what had happened before, but then I remember. She means the things that had happened with _her. _Maybe if it weren't for her, Tori would've been bugging me like she was to Simon.

Sighing and tightening my arm around her, I laid my head on top of hers. People walked back and forth until I finally found the words to say.

"You know that none of it was your fault, right?" I felt water stain my shirt. Spotting Simon from afar, I told him to change. His eyes drifted to Tori, who's face was pressed against my chest. He nodded at once.

"Tori, it happened. It wasn't your fault. It's in the past now," I tell her soothingly. My hand rubbing her back and her black hair she had gotten from our mother. Simon was the only one to get Dad's dirty blond hair.

"But it made your life hell, Derek. I can't forgive myself for ever setting you up with her," Tori moved her head and locked her red, puffy eyes with mine. "I would've kicked her ass that day."

I let out a laugh. Of course she had to make the serious mood change back to a silly one. We both turned our heads to look at Simon as he went over to the cash register to buy the one shirt Tori liked on him. Behind the register though, was a blonde girl who seemed to be checking out Simon. He noticed and leaned in close to whisper things at her.

Tori and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. Typical Simon. Before we could say anything, Tori's face broke into the biggest smile I've ever seen on her face. She was looking at someone from behind me. Confused, I turned around and almost let out a gasp. _Almost_.

There she stood, the blue-eyed Angel I had dreamed about last night. Her face wore the same smile Tori had, only it made my breathing to get caught in my throat. Only when she looked at me, her eyes widened and looked at Tori. Tears seemed to be swelling in her baby blues until she shook them off and seemed to gather the courage to walk over to us.

As she got closer, I took note that she didn't have the horrible make-up on her face. Getting control of my feelings, I managed to pull out an almost bored looking face. I mentally gave myself a pat on the back.

"Hey, Chloe!" Tori exclaimed, giving her a hug. Glancing over to where Simon was, he still seemed to be flirting with the cashier.

Instead of a 'hi' or something Chloe responded with, "When were you going to tell me you had a boyfriend?" Looking pointedly at me. I raised an eyebrow at her. She quickly looked away and glared at Tori. The brother mode in me started to shift. Nobody should look at my little sister like that.

Before I could bark anything back at her, Tori gripped my arm, calming me. I looked at her and from the corner of my eye, I saw Chloe staring jealousy at her hand on my arm.

Turning back towards Chloe, she said, "He isn't my boyfriend. That would be gross considering that he's my brother."

Chloe's eyes seemed to falter at the word 'brother.' Tori must have noticed, because the next thing I knew she was up in her face. Chloe was caught off guard and almost would have slipped if Tori wouldn't have yanked her arm to keep her up.

"Tell me it isn't him Chloe. Tell me he isn't the one you're always talking about," Tori whispered harshly. Ever though I think it was supposed to be a whisper, I could still hear what she had said.

People passing by would stare at them, making me want to end their conversation. But I didn't want to get on Tori's bad side, especially when she already was.

Chloe was glaring at Tori, but her eyes had a hint of being frightened. I couldn't see Tori's face, but from the fact that her shoulders were shaking, it was either from crying or from rage. I didn't know until my question was answered with the next thing she shot at Chloe.

"Stay away from Derek. Do you hear me loud and clear, Saunders? _Stay away from my brother_. Don't even think of coming close to him. If I see you try something on him... - Just don't. You'll regret it if you do," Tori told her through clenched teeth. Chloe's eyes frozen wide as she stared at her friend.

I glanced worriedly at Tori and was about to say something, but she started to drag me towards the door. She put her fingers in her mouth and let out a piercing whistle, which I'm sure the whole mall could hear. Simon looked over and followed us out the front door of the mall. No one spoke a word to each other, we just continued to walk towards the car.

One thing kept circling my mind.

Was Chloe the one asking for advice from Tori? And did she like me?

I replayed the scene of what had happened not too long ago and alas my questions were answered. Yes to both of them.

**x-x-x-x**

Walking into Dad's house, we noticed that he wasn't home. We all glanced at each other and found a note. It said that he had to go to a business meeting, which we knew was a lie. He went to go visit Mom's grave.

From the events that had unfolded minutes ago, Tori went over to the freezer and pulled out the big tub of cookie n' cream ice cream. With Simon grabbing three spoons, we all headed towards the living room. I took my jacket off and turned the tv on. I decided to put on NCIS since it was our favorite show to watch.

Sighing, I cleared my mind of everything that had happened and reached to grab a spoonful of ice cream. Eating the mouthful of ice cream seemed to evaporate all the feelings I had cooped inside me. It worked on Tori who was still seething with rage when we got back. She was laughing at the funny things the characters said from the show.

The one that was the funniest was when Anthony Dinozzo was on a horse and had said, "I think it lost a contact." As the horse walked in circles.

All three of us laughed that it caused Tori to let out a pig laugh. Simon's mouth was wide open, ice cream almost spilling out. We all looked at each other again and cracked up again.

I started to make fun of Tori's laugh, along with teasing Simon on how ice cream was going to fall out of his mouth. Tori just blushed and crossed her arms around her chest, playfully glaring at me. Simon full on glared, but with a playful hint in his eyes.

They both looked at each other and seemed to have a telepathic talk. Slowly, they turned to look at me, mischievous looks on their faces. Before I could react, they were on me, knocking me on the wood floor. Hands searching for my ticklish parts of my body.

I tried my best not to give them any hints on where it tickled me the worst, but they seemed to have figured it out. My laughs intertwined with theirs, echoing around the house.

They didn't stop until they were tired. Eventually they got off of me, and both helped me off the floor. We ended up sitting on the couch again, scooping spoonfuls of ice cream, and watching the NCIS marathon on tv.

Ever thing forgotten, replaced by smiles on our faces.

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><p><strong>AN: Well there you have it, chapter 4. Sorry if there's any mistakes, considering that I finished typing this at midnight. Hope I didn't disappoint with this chapter, I'm proud that I had put Protective Tori in the story. :) **

**As to some questions on the previous chapter: Yes, I did notice I had changed Derek's name. Their mom had the last name Souza, so the trio have Souza Bae as their last names. Sorry if it confused you guys. **

**This is also an ALL HUMAN story, no supernaturals coming in anytime. I suck at writing them with powers. Lol**

**The other questions were already answered with this chapter. Just to make sure, yes Tori was talking with Chloe in the last chapter. **

**Thanks for reading & reviewing! I love reading your reviews! :) **

**If anyone hasn't read my other story of The Darkest Powers Series, maybe you could go read and review that one as well.**** :} **

**Thanks again, **

**~ CielosDeNoche **


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Times of Our Lives

**Forgiveness**

Months passed after Tori yelling at Chloe. Let's just say, she forbid me to go to the diner after she found out Chloe worked there. I was almost out the door one day when I noticed Tori was leaning against my car. She didn't talk to me for a while, which made me feel guilty. Which is why I don't even dare do anything or rather bother to go to the diner at all now.

I started University again, while Tori and Simon continued on with college. We were all to busy to even notice anything of rather anyone around us. Kit had gone back to traveling for business meetings. We weren't surprised one bit. Sure we got sad when we dropped him off at the airport, but we got over it.

It was now a Saturday, a good day to rest before the week started again. I smiled to myself as I got comfortable on my couch in the living room, turning on the tv.

I was mindlessly flipping through channels when there was banging on the door. I sighed to myself before getting up and walking sluggishly towards it.

Opening the door, I immediately wished I hadn't. I groaned as Tori and Simon made their way through the door, both muttering a 'good morning'. I rubbed my face with my hand before closing the door.

"Oh, cool. Resident Evil is on." Simon grabbed the remote and raised the volume. I sighed again.

"So, big brother." Tori said. "What are you going to do today?"

I pretended to think. "Nothing, I guess."

"Boo, you're boring," Simon said, before getting concentrated on the movie.

"Look who's talking," I muttered.

"This is why I need both of you to go out more."

Simon and I both groaned out loud. Knowing Tori, she'd make us go to the mall and buy stuff. More for her then for us, but we never complained.

"So...," she continued, glaring at us. "I was thinking we could go to the mall."

Of course, she ordered me to go dress since I was still in my pajamas. Tori even threatened me that if I wasn't dressed by five minutes, she'd use me as her Barbie Ken. Simon – of course – was complaining as I left to get dressed. I quickly threw on some jeans, a nice black v-neck shirt, and as usual my boots and leather jacket.

Minutes later, we were walking through the mall. Simon having a bored expression on his face, but only smiled when he saw 'cute' girls walking by. I quote the word 'cute' because no way were they 'cute' when they had a bunch of heavy make-up on their faces. Gross.

Tori was the same, except the whole boring look on her face like Simon. She always had a small smile though it did seem to get bigger as guys walked by. Let's just say, one look at me and they would cower away. Good.

I was smirking the whole way until we walked into a store. It immediately disappeared, having from seeing someone. I glanced at Tori who I noticed was looking at the person with a guilty expression. I nudged her slightly, making a gesture with my head to go up and talk to the person.

Tori gave me a small smile then walked way to where Chloe was standing. I didn't get to see what happened, because Simon pulled me by the arm towards awesome looking clothes. Rather... leather jackets. What? It's not everyday that a guy like me comes shopping. Unless if you have a sister like Tori...

My attention was fully on the leather jackets when I felt someone tap me on my back. Simon who was in front of me, looking at another rack of clothes, smirked at me then proceeded to walking away.

I turned around, only to be met by Chloe's ever piercing blue eyes. Oh god.

"Hi." She smiled at me. Was it me or did the store turn on their heater?

"Oh, uh... hey." I cleared my throat and stuffed my hands in my jean pockets.

"I haven't seen you at the diner anymore. My aunt always tells me you're there, but she noticed you haven't gone for the past couple of weeks."

"Oh, yeah. Something was... hindering me from going. Guess I've been busy." I nonchalantly look around the store, spying Tori making hand motions at me to keep the conversation going.

"Well, I hope you go soon."

I smiled at her, "Yeah I will. Your aunt probably knows that."

We both laughed, causing my face to feel hot. I'm serious, did they turn the heat on in here? I was about to comment on that before I noticed that Chloe was blushing. Not much, but you could barely see the pink appearing on her face.

This was the Chloe that I liked. She didn't have anything of make-up anywhere. Her strawberry blond hair was down and wearing light skinny jeans with converse and a shirt that caught my attention.

"So, you like Linkin Park?" I asked, referring to her shirt.

She looked down at it, before answering me. "Are you kidding me? I freakin' love them!"

I laughed at her enthusiasm causing her to blush and look away.

"I agree with you there. What's your favorite song by them?" Chloe hummed and it took her a couple of minutes before answering.

"I can't really choose between _The Catalyst _and _Somewhere I Belong_."

"Those are pretty good. I love _Leave Out All the Rest _maybe because it helped me through some tough times in life." It did actually.

Chloe was about to reply, but closed her mouth when she saw Tori and Simon heading our way.

"Hey, I'm Simon. Nice to meet you." He smiled at her before offering her his hand.

She took his hand. "I'm Chloe."

I would be jealous if it weren't for the set of numbers written on his hand that he used to shake Chloe's hand. Ugh, my brother.

"Well," Tori butted in. "I'm pretty hungry, come on Simon."

They both walked away without a second glance at us. Chloe and I looked at each other before looking back at the backs of my brother and sister.

"Want to go eat?" I asked once they were out of sight.

Chloe shrugged, "Yeah sure."

And with that, we both walked out of the store. There was a sense of calmness as we walked. Something between us just... clicked.

It was weird, but...

I liked it.

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><p><strong>AN: So sorry I haven't done anything for this story for a long time. My attention has been somewhere else, but I finally updated. :) More Chlerek in the future chapters. ;) **

**Thanks for reading! **

**~ CielosDeNoche**


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